PIB Headquarters
Out of 238 lakhs LPG customers in Tamil Nadu, Indian Oil bags 136 Lakh customers 1250 KM of pipeline from Ennore to Tuticorin to cost Rs. 6000 crore
‘Out of total number of LPG customers in Tamil Nadu, Indian Oil has 136 Lakh customers. For LPG distribution, 1250 KM of pipeline from Ennore to Tuticorin will be constructed at cost of Rs. 6000 crore ’ said Shri P Jayadevan, Executive Director, Indian Oil  at the press meet organised by the Indian Oil Corporation in Chennai today. He addressed on the new marketing initiatives, network expansion, infrastructure developments and investment plans of Indian Oil in Tamil Nadu & Puducherry.
‘A few months ago, Hon’ble Prime Minsiter launched the Indian Oil’s Ennore LNG Terminal, which would be the forerunner, ushering in the Gas based energy phase into Tamil Nadu. This Terminal with its linkages through Pipelines and spur lines to Tuticorin and Bengaluru would bring in the cheaper and cleaner Natural gas to the industries, auto fuel stations and households. The proposed LPG Pipelines which would run across the state would sharply reduce our dependence on the road transportation of Bulk LPG to the bottling plants, which is the norm currently not only in Tamil Nadu but across Southern Region. In LPG, Indian Oil’s Indane has a market Share of 58.1 with the sales of over 1250 TMTs of product during the last fiscal and in the current year we expect to sell 1316 TMTs. Out of the total number of LPG distributors of 1598 on industry basis, Indian Oil has 851 distributors. Out of the total number of 238 lakhs LPG customers of in Tamil Nadu, Indian Oil has 136 lakhs’ said the Executive Director.
He further added that Indian Oil is also set to augment the storage capacity of its bottling plants across the state to gear up for the enhanced demand for the product in the current year. Around 6000 MTs of storage is being added across Ennore, Puducherry, Trichy, Madurai and Erode bottling plants. Current LPG storage capacity of LPG across the bottling plants in Tamil Nadu is about 14,000 MTs which includes 1800 MTs of Tirunelveli bottling plant which is yet to be commissioned. With this capacity Indian Oil is capable of rolling out about 265,000cylinders per day adding up to an annual bottling capacity of 940 thousand MTs per year. Indian Oil has launched and is sustaining a host of customer centric initiatives including multiple options for digital payments, A short no 1906 for24 hrs Emergency leakage call service, Preferred Time Delivery Scheme, SAHAJ  –to enable prospective customers to register and make payment online for availing LPG connections at the doorsteps, New Customer website – cx.indianoil.in and IndianOilOneapp , Introduction of 5 kg FTL LPG cylinders for use in LPG iron boxes for iron and laundry segment workers &Jumbo 425 kg cylinder. For the benefit of PMUY customers, Indian Oil is promoting 5 kg domestic cylinders. Existing PMUY customers having 14.2 kg cylinders can exchange their 14.2 cylinders with 5 kg domestic cylinder, enabling the customer to obtain the refill with less of financial burden.
- operations, presently southern markets of Tamil Nadu are being fed from Terminals at Sankari, Trichy, Madurai and Coimbatore. While Coimbatore is connected with the BPC owned Cochin-Coimbatore-Karur Pipeline, other 3 terminals are fed by Indian Oil’s Chennai-Trichy-Madurai Pipeline , which has a booster station at Asanur with a line branching off to Sankari Terminal. Due to growing demand for Petrol / Diesel in Tamil Nadu, it is proposed to convert the above Booster Station on CTMPL at Asanur into a full-fledged terminal that would be supplying fuels to the surrounding districts of Villupuram, Cuddalore, Perambular and Puducherry. The terminal is likely to be commissioned by June 2021.We are setting up a new grass root terminal at Vallur near Ennore Port at an estimated project cost of Rs.700 Crore. In addition to these grass roots terminals, additional Tankage at Madurai, Sankari, Trichy and Coimbatore Terminals to the tune of 52,000 KL of diesel and 12,000 KL of Petrol storage is being created. There is a strong need to have our own jetty at Kamarajar Port. The proposed captive jetty would handle about 3 MMTPA product  is in progress and is slated to be completed in three to five years’ time, he said.
The Executive Director further said that, Indian Oil has planned to set up 2615 new retail outlets for which applications were called during last year and received response for 2277 locations. However, the new dealer selection process is kept in abeyance due to court stay; the selection process has been kept in abeyance w.e.f. 20.2.19 at industry level in TN & Puducherry. Similarly 85% of fuel requirement of Railways in Tamil Nadu is being catered to by IOC through 11 Railway consumer Depots of Southern Railways. We have automated 2251 Retail outlets which will record all transaction done at the Regional Officers will ensure 100 % quality and quantity delivered to customers. IOC has implemented solarization of 876 Retail outlets as on June19 out of which 221 are rural retail outlet and further targets to solarize 450 outlets more in 2019-20. This will ensure uninterrupted customer service even during power failure.
Speaking about Natural Gas sector, he said that requirement of natural gas continues to grow by about 8% per annum and it is being imported in the liquid form from 2003 onwards. Imported liquefied natural gas  now constitutes over 50% of India’s annual natural gas consumption. To meet the growing demand for liquefied natural gas, Indian Oil Corporation through its Joint Venture Company, Indian Oil LNG Private Limited has built a LNG import terminal of 5 MMTPA capacity at Kamarajar Port. Indian Oil has also bagged the project from PNGRB to construct 1250 KM of pipeline from Ennore to Tuticorin with two major spur lines to Bangalore . The 22.3 KM pipeline stretch from Ennore to Manali has already been constructed and commissioned. The total planned route is to be constructed at an estimated cost on Rs 6000 Crore. Currently LNG supplies are being made to Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited , Madras Fertilizers Limited  and Tamil Nadu Petrochemicals Limited . The gas will also be made available for City Gas Distribution  including transport sector, commercial sector and for cooking in houses  and for Vehicles  as and when the CGD network is ready. IndianOil is targeting to lay 3900 inch KMs of pipeline, provide 12.5 lakh PNG Connections and set up 430 CNG stations in 8 years in Coimbatore and Salem Districts at a total cost of Rs.4200 Crore.
As a major step towards further cleaning up the environment, IOC is the first and only supplier of BS VI grade HSD to the auto majors with supplies from Mathura Refinery to facilitate R&D activity on engine developments conforming to BSVI standards. IOC has also tied up for marketing of Compressed Bio gas  being produced by IOT Bio gas at Namakkal under SATAT. This is the first of its kind venture for providing alternate fuel to industries and Automobiles under the Green Initiatives taken up by IndianOil.
Speaking on CSR activities undertaken, he said IOC has set up HU Methane Gas Plant for Community Kitchen at Tirunelveli which converts human excreta from the community toilets of a nomadic tribe to methane which is supplied for cooking. He also spoke about Bandicoot, a Robotic solution for eradication of manual scavenging in Kumbakonam helps save many precious lives and improves the overall efficiency of cleaning of drainage Manholes and Sewers. He added that, IndianOil has provided an incubation Centre to Vellore Co-operative sugar Mills which includes training hall with touch screen, Rain Water Harvesting Pit, drip system for wide row plantation and farm equipment. The micro compost project has helped Thiruvallur Municipality in doing away with the dump yard at Ekkadu road. The Micro forest which has nearly 3000 Native trees to provide a congenial atmosphere for the TB patients of the Govt. Hospital at Perundurai Medical College has been provided by IndianOil.